January 19, 2012 – Sam Chase stepped into his role as executive director of the Coalition of Community Health Clinics 18 months ago after serving as Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish's chief of staff and working with a variety of groups and government agencies on social justice and poverty issues, including the Oregon Opportunity Network and the Clackamas County Land Trust.
Alleviating poverty and creating jobs are also a major part of Chase's campaign platform as a candidate for the District 5 seat of Metro Council, currently held by Rex Burkholder. Chase ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2006.
The Metro position is half-time, and Chase has no intention of leaving his current job if elected. “I would like to, should my board keep me,” he said.
Chase said he’d love to “put all of us in the social safety net business out of business,” so assistance programs for poor or uninsured people weren’t necessary, and he’s determined to create a “cycle of jobs” instead of a cycle of poverty.
He realizes the coalition can’t impact federal level reform but hopes to influence the way healthcare is delivered in Portland. Representatives from his agency have participated in weekly meetings to discuss the state's healthcare transformation process, and have emphasized primary care for uninsured, low-income people – with an aim of keeping uninsured patients out of the emergency room.
Chase also believes the coalition can become a model for how coordinated care organizations can work since it’s had experience bringing together clinics that serve different patient demographics.
The coalition offers information and referrals for uninsured and low-income people through its website , as well as prescription assistance, interpretation services, volunteer indemnification (insuring volunteer physicians) and information technology services to provide uninsured people with electronic records.
In fiscal 2009-10, the coalition's clinic members provided direct services to 50,000 people – most of whom were uninsured and earned below 100% of the federal poverty level. Also, 13,000 people used the clinic's search engine which connected them with one of 14 clinics in the Portland area.
Now the coalition is seeking new resources to continue its work. As part of the Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative, of which CCHC is a part, along with several other primary care-providing agencies, has applied for a $30 million grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation -- which is providing up to $1 billion for groups that can demonstrate local innovation in healthcare.
Chase said that $30 million is a comparatively small amount considering how much governmental agencies are tasked with saving, but “it's huge in my world. I think we've got to really identify how we're going to make this shift into primary care, prevention and chronic disease management. That shift is going to be huge. We know it needs to happen.”
